WFAA: Police say tip from a pest control worker led to the bust of Collin County human trafficking ring

And police say that tip led to the bust of a major forced labor trafficking ring operating in Collin County and beyond.

“In my 20 years of being in Princeton, there is nothing of this magnitude that has happened or anything along these lines that I’m aware of,” said Princeton Police Chief James Waters.

Fifteen victims – all women between 23 and 26 years old – were discovered in the Ginsburg Lane home.

But police believe the ring had been operating for three to five years and there could be around 100 victims – men and women.

Four people have now been arrested and charged with trafficking: Dwaraka Gunda, 31, and her husband Santhosh Katkoori, 31, of Melissa, Texas; Chandan Dasireddy, 24 of Melissa, Texas; and Anil Male, 37, of Prosper, Texas.

Court documents obtained by WFAA reveal at least three of the four suspects claim to be citizens of India.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the victims told police Dasireddy picked them all up from an airport for what they believed to be an internship to learn Java scripting.

But Princeton police say, based on the laptops, cell phones, printers and fraudulent documents they seized at multiple locations – they believe the women were actually working for multiple computer programming shell companies.

The affidavit says once the women got other jobs, the companies they worked for would pay Katkoori’s and Gunda’s company, then the couple would take 20 percent of the salary and give the rest to the women.

In the meantime, police say the women were living in poor conditions – sleeping 5 to 8 to a room on mats, blankets or a single air mattress.

“It was illegal labor,” Waters said.

Since the initial tip, police say they discovered multiple other locations in Princeton, Melissa, McKinney and beyond that were involved.

“It led from one house within the city to another house within the city to multiple houses throughout multiple cities all the way through the state,” Waters said.

Federal agencies are now involved, including the Department of Homeland Security.

Court documents do not explain if the victims were targeted or lured to town or where they might be from.